Some businesses have televisions (TVs) or other display devices available at their business premises for customer viewing. For example, a sports bar will have many TVs located about the bar so that their customers are able to view their favorite sporting events. Many businesses obtain their programming from a program provider, such as a cable network, an Internet service provider, or satellite system provider, since such programming providers are able to provide a wide range of programming services that are not available over the local public systems.
For example, a sports bar in Denver may be able to receive, via local wireless signals, a broadcast of a local sporting event provided by a local television station. However, it is unlikely that the sports bar will be able to provide a sporting event in another city unless they are receiving programming from a cable network or satellite system provider.
Various premium services are available from the program providers. As used herein, a premium fee service is any service in which fees are charged. For example, a premium service may include a fee-based service paid monthly or on a per-use basis, or may be additional services which may include premium program channels, and/or premium service events or programs. For example, a premium service package sold to the sports bar in Denver may include one or more premium service sports channels that provide coverage of sporting events in many different cities. Accordingly, the sports bar may tune one or more of its TVs to those particular sporting events that are of interest to its customers.
Generally, business operators are honest individuals who responsibly pay for services that are provided by their cable network or satellite system provider. However, unscrupulous business operators may, on occasion, pirate or otherwise illegally access premium service programming that they have not contracted and/or paid for. As an example, a residential account set top box (STB) may be authorized to receive a particular premium service channel. Generally, residential account rates are less than commercial account rates. Thus, the unscrupulous business operator may take a residential account STB to their place of business, and use the authorized residential account STB to show programs available on the premium service channel to their customers.
Account packing is another example of an unauthorized access to a premium service. For example, a hotel operator may contract with the program provider for an authorized residential account STB for use at their home. However, an unscrupulous hotel operator may take this residential account STB to the hotel and hook up many STBs at the hotel. The unauthorized STBs would be operable since the unauthorized STBs are receiving the authorized residential account signal.
Many systems have been devised to detect theft of unauthorized premium services. On-site audits can be a very effective tool in discouraging the potentially unscrupulous business operator. However, the program provider typically prefers to maintain a positive, open business relationship with its customers, and on site audits may be undesirable from a public relations viewpoint. Further, the clever unscrupulous business operator can take measures to defeat an onsite inspection to detect the theft of unauthorized premium services. For example, an unauthorized residential account STB could be hidden away in the business premises such that the on-site auditor could not visibly detect the use of the residential account STB.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide for a way to detect the illegal theft of unauthorized services by an unscrupulous business operator in an unobtrusive manner, and/or without notice so that the unscrupulous business operator does not have time to reconfigure their system to avoid detection of the theft of the unauthorized services.